Battle of Love
by gingerkc
Summary: A wheel of time, where in Damon has to choose between what he wants and what he must do. Damon posses something Klaus wants, Klaus kidnaps Damon's sister-in-law, Caroline to serve the purpose, never to be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

29th December, 1890

It was still dark outside. The pine trees near the beach swung around in a frenzy dance. The waves washed across the shore, cleaning the muddy and trembling feet of a young blonde girl of about seventeen.

She kept peeking behind at the trees near the southern edge, making sure no one was coming. Her breathing was agitated and her brows were covered in sweat. She couldn't remove the mud off her feet fast enough.

She felt a sudden tingle on her ear and she screamed. It was the monster behind her, the monster she had been running away from, he had blood dripping from his mouth. He sat magnificently on a white horse, her dream come true now her worst nightmare.

The young girl thought back on those days when she'd sit with her two sisters, Elena and Bonnie, and talk about a beautiful future with a handsome young man, who would come to get her on a white horse, her knight in shining armor.

The monster got off his horse onto the ground, making the girl move back a few steps into the water.

'Caroline', the monster whispered, she shuddered at her own name. He took her face in his hands and said with a even tone and an unblinking eye 'You did not see anything, you came here because you wanted fresh air.'

Her mind went blank, his words reverberated through her mind like an echo.

_You did not see anything, you came here because you wanted fresh air?_

'I did not see anything. I came here because I wanted fresh air.' Caroline repeated, trying to keep her voice calm and toneless. The monster looked pleased, he got back on his horse and rode away into the darkness.

Caroline waited till he was out of sight before she started running in the opposite direction. She glanced back to check whether he was coming behind her after every few seconds, in the process she slipped and fell into the mud twice numerous times. Finally she fell, exhausted, into the mud. Her breath was slow and deep.

She heard footsteps coming towards her. _Had he caught her deception? Had he by chance seen the vervain anklet her sister, Bonnie had made her wear? _She lifted her head up ever so slightly and found herself staring into the eyes of a friend, Damon Salvatore.

'DAMON! We have to get out of here.' Damon clasped his hand around her mouth and pulled her behind a tree signaling her to remain quiet. 'Da-'

'sshhhh.' He whispered before he turned his attention back to the clearing in front of him. Caroline kept quiet and waited for a few minutes before she turned back to Damon exhausted. 'Damon? Is everyone okay?'

'Yeah, Fine. Go home now.' he pushed Caroline towards the edge of the clearing and waited for her to leave. Caroline stared at him. 'What are you doing out here at this time of the night Damon? I thought you and Stefan were going to go hunt!'

'Change of plans, little Caro' Damon stared at Caroline waiting for her to leave.

'But Elena said-' Caroline managed, before she heard footsteps behind her.

'CAROLINE?' it was Caroline's sister, Bonnie. She called back out 'BONNIE! Im here!'

Bonnie emerged out of the edge of the woods looking shaken and tired in her nightgown.

'Caroline! Where did you go? I thought you went to get some water. And why are you all sweaty and shaken?' She turned to look at Damon. 'Damon what happened? You're back so soon?'

'Yeah. Well, by the time we got to the Lockwood Estate, it was already dark so we dint have much of a choice except to come back.'

'Why? You could have stayed there! I've heard the Lockwood's son, Tyler, is quiet the welcoming kind!'

'Well, Mrs. Lockwood claimed that she and Mr. Lockwood had somewhere they had to be, and their son wasn't home. And when I was coming back here, I heard some howls like wolves.'

Bonnie held onto Carolines hand pulling her forwards. Damon bid his farewell to the two girls and ran back home, Bonnie and Caroline slowly walked back to their estate, where Elena was still deep asleep.

On their way back, Caroline filled Bonnie in on the way the monster had tried to compel her and how it hadn't worked. Bonnie was anxious and distressed to know whether he had caught her ruse, Caroline shook her head.

'We'll leave for our Aunt Jenna's tomorrow morning anyway Caro. Away from all this, then there wont be any more reasons to be afraid.'

Bonnie kissed her scared sister on the head and went upstairs to sleep. Caroline waited until Bonnie was out of sight before she turned back to the clearing one last time to assure herself that there was no one there. Her eyes opened wide in shock, there he was, the monster, walking towards her through the mist.

Caroline tried to keep her eyes expressionless, but fear was inevitable, and the monster had seen it rather clearly in her eyes. He stared at her neck and then at her wrist and then finally at her ankle and smirked.

'Vervain, I see?' he whispered in a silky low voice and walked around Caroline, smelling the fear that engulfed her body that now rooted her to the spot where she stood.

'So you and your friend had planned this together?' his voice got, if possible, even more deadly 'Too bad, I really liked you Caroline!'

In a split second, the monster snapped Caroline's neck, from behind him he heard a scream of agony.

'NO! KLAUS!' screamed Damon in agony.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

'NO. KLAUS' screamed Damon in agony. He could not believe his eyes, his dear little sister-in-law, dead! She dint have anything to do with what he had done a few hours ago, and yet punished so severely. For the first time in his life, he felt fear, he felt an absurd amount of numbness in his limbs. He crawled towards Caroline's body and felt her forehead, it was cold.

'Finally. Damon Salvatore' Klaus whispered in a deadly voice. 'I want it back, where is it?' Klaus stared at Damon's pitiful posture and waited. 'I don't know what you're talking about' Damon whispered through his sobs, trying to ignore the chills he felt on his spine. _He must not know about Elena's involvement_.

'I know you took it and I know why. You wanted to make your loved one immortal. What shall you do now Damon? Now, that your dear beloved lies dead, killed by my bare hands? You have no use of it now Salvatore! Return it to me, and you shall live longer than your poor little Caroline.' Damon looked up at Klaus, his face expressionless. _So Klaus thought he'd stolen the blood from Klaus' home to make Caroline immortal. Absurd. He loved Elena, Caroline was like a sister. But if Klaus thought Caroline was his beloved, and hence killed her, Elena?_

Damon slowly got up from the muddy ground. His eyes determined to not show vulnerability. 'You killed Caroline!' Damon whispered, his mind fierce and determined, Klaus would not have it back, not now, when he'd killed Caroline. 'Its not yours for the keeping Salvatore!' Klaus whispered.

Damon knew how this was going to end, there would be a fight, an original vampire against a mere human, and it would lead to death, his death. But Damon no longer feared death, he had to do this, this was his only hope of protecting Elena.

Damon snarled at Klaus, Klaus' smirking face now evidently angry. 'You dare fight me? The only reason you're still alive is because I want my blood back. That's all.' Damon stared at Klaus' agitated face and felt a surge of anger.

Damon took his position to pounce at the vampire, when he felt a knife pushed into his ribcage and a cruel laugh near his ears.

'Poor poor Damon Salvatore, dying like his dear beloved Carolina. I can save you Damon, but you must return to me my blood.' Klaus stared waiting, he knew Damon would refuse, and he knew what his next move must be.

Damon shook his head and waited for the pain that he knew was coming. A minute later he felt himself being swung, his left side hit the cold muddy ground. Damon tried to pull the dagger out of his body but failed miserably.

'Tell me' Klaus whispered. Damon looked up to see Klaus' angry face glowering at him. 'No' it took Damon so much of his energy to say those two syllables. He waited for more pain, but none came. He turned back around to see what Klaus was doing and he saw Stefan, his younger brother emerging from the edge of the woods, arm in arm with his beloved Katerina Pierce. Damons eyes widened in shock. He tried to wave out to Stefan, trying to tell him not to come any closer. But his younger brother was not to be stopped, he came running towards Damon's limp body and stared in shock.

'What happened? Damon! You're bleeding.' Stefan stared at the dagger poking out of Damon's back. 'Stefan! Leave' Damon whimpered, 'You and Katerina are in danger. Leave.'

'Well hello there Stefan Salvatore.' Klaus came out from hiding, his eyes fixed not at Stefan, but at a point near the edge of the woods. 'And lovely Katerina.'

Katerina stared in shock at Klaus, her mind screaming at her to run, her body fixated at the same position. A moment later he was directly in front of Katerina. 'We meet again, doppelganger!' Klaus whispered in her ears.

'Don't- Don't kill me.' Katerina whispered, as Klaus pulled her head back with her long curly hair. 'I came here tonight, believing I would have one kill Katerina. Now I believe I have two.' Klaus sniggered. His hand ready to rip her heart out, his face contorted with anger, but he couldn't.

His mind was suddenly replaced with a pain he couldn't describe, it felt like his head was being ripped open shred by shred, piece by piece, he screamed in agony, his hands clutching at his head.

'You should not have come here, original.' Bonnie stood beside Stefan and Damon. Bonnie stopped the spell she had been doing on Klaus and waited for him to get back up. 'Leave now and do not come back.' Bonnie's face showed determination.

'Witch, you dare use your spells on me?' Klaus stared at the witch in front of him. 'You are not welcome here, leave now and never come back.' Bonnie whispered, keeping the fear out of her voice. Klaus looked at Bonnie and decided to rethink his situation. 'I shall leave, but I want Katerina.' Klaus looked at the petrified face of Katerina.

'You cannot have her, she's one of us. You shall not harm a single human in this town, am I clear?' Bonnie stared in anger at the monster in front of her. 'I give you my word witch, no human shall be harmed in this town. But Katerina will leave with me!' Klaus was not going to give up this chance of revenge.

'She's a part of us. She will not be your dinner for the night original. Leave!' Bonnie was adamant. 'Oh witch. It seems Katerina hasn't told you yet. She's not a part of you, she's a part of my world. Katerina Pierce is a vampire.'

Bonnie stared at Katerina's petrified face in shock. Katerina tried to explain herself, but Klaus was too quick for her, he took a dagger and cut a line on her palm, holding her hand so that it was clearly visible to the other three. Her hand bled slightly for a minute and then it slowly healed itself.

Bonnie stared at Katerina in shock. She had let Stefan alone with this monster. How could she have been so irresponsible? What if she had harmed Stefan? She should have guessed the first time she had met the monster. The monster had refused to shake hands with her, she had known Bonnie was a witch before anyone else had found out.

Bonnie looked at Katerina in disgust. 'Take her with you, we do not keep monsters company.' Klaus smirked in satisfaction and then a moment later disappeared with Katerina.

'NO.' Stefan screamed, running towards the place where his beloved Katerina had been standing a minute ago. 'Stefan! NO! Come back.' Bonnie stared unflinchingly at his broken face. 'She had to leave Stefan, you know your father hates vampires.' Bonnie waited till Stefan looked a little more calm and then turned to tend to Damon's injuries. The energy that it took her to heal Damon's stab wound was immense, the wound was deep, and for a moment she thought she wouldn't be able to manage it. When she was done healing Damon, she was exhausted.

Damon got up swiftly from the muddy ground and walked upto where his younger brother, Stefan was sitting blankly. 'Stefan, this was bound to happen. I told you Katerina was trouble. You remember that churchyard killing, right!' Damon tried to comfort Stefan.

Bonnie stared at the two of them with a troubled expression. 'You both knew what she was? And yet, Stefan, you let yourself fall in love with her? And, Damon! Your brother has been alone with a vampire on so many occasions! What were you thinking? What if she'd bitten him? You know vampires aren't best known for their control right?'

'Look, Bonnie-' Damon tried to explain. But Bonnie cut him off. 'You are stupid, irresponsible and if anything happened to Stefan, he would have deserved it.'  
Bonnie spat at the two foolish brothers and turned to leave.

She turned back to Damon one last time, as she walked inside 'Where's Caroline? I thought she was out here.'

Damon remembered the horrible scene he had witnessed and felt his eyes water. He pointed to the spot beside the apple tree where he had witnessed the killing and lowered his eyes in shame, waiting for the scream of agony that he knew would escape Bonnie.

'What is it Damon? What are you pointing at?' Bonnie's brows were lit up with tension. Damon looked at Bonnie in confusion and turned around to the point where the killing had happened.

The place looked exactly as it had, except there was no body.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Katerina was slowly starting to regain conciousness, but Klaus was an impatient man. He picked up the vervain water and force fed it to the half awake vampire, she gagged on it and stared at him in agony.

'Klaus! You have to listen to me! I was trying. I really was. But its not easy!' she tried to reason with the original vampire standing in front of her.

'You gave me your word love, you promised me the Salvatore brothers. And you haven't even turned them yet. The only reason you are still alive is because I want the Salvatore brothers. I gave you my word that I will spare your life, but you aren't exactly keeping up with your word are you?' Klaus had a dangerous smile on his face.

Katerina struggled with her words, darkness was starting to cloud her mind again, she could not keep her eyes open any longer. She slid into oblivion. And there it was again, all the agony, all the pain, all the muted suffering, all the torture. She couldn't take it anymore. She screamed, he had finally broken her.

'I have no more use of you my love.' She heard his dangerous, silky voice as though from a distance.

And then she felt the pain, a pain that was more than anything she had ever felt in her entire human or vampire life. And in her last moments of life, she felt guilt like never before, she felt like she had wronged, she felt like she had been unjust. _She should have told him, when she still could have. _

Klaus left her body on the forest ground to rot, his bloody hands still holding the heart that he had just ripped out of the traitorous doppelganger.

_There was still so much to do. He required the Salvatore brothers at any cost. But they had seen him now. And the witch, oh the witch! He would have to deal with her before he could move any farther with his plan. _

Klaus dropped the bloody heart on the ground and walked towards the stream in front of him. He felt a patch of soft mud and grass on the banks and sat down. He turned to wash his hands in the running water and found himself caught up with his own reflection, he had dried blood all over his clothes, his long flowy hair was a mess covered in leaves and dirt, his hands felt numb with all the vervain he had touched today when he had been torturing dearest Katerina. He needed to cleanse his body and his soul of all the bloodshed that had happened today.

Klaus took off each piece of cloth that covered his body and walked calmly into the freezing water. It felt like someone was stabbing him with hundred sharp knifes against his soft, smooth skin simultaneously. He scrubbed himself from head to toe slowly and carefully till he was completely satisfied.

He stayed in the water for what felt like a few hours in the least, concentrating with all his mind on the freezing water and how it felt against his naked body. It was like a penance for him.

Every time he failed in doing something, he punished himself by inflicting pain on his body.

He took some of the water and splashed it onto his tired face and opened his eyes. The forest around him looked calm and peaceful, hence a scream of agony was not what he had been expecting. He looked around himself once more, this time more carefully checking every nook and corner of his surroundings. _Nothing!_

Klaus put his clothes back on and quietly and carefully tried to locate the source of the sound. He moved through bushes and trees and sifted through cobwebs, but nothing. It was as though nothing had happened. He almost started to wonder whether it had just been a figment of his imagination when he saw her, blood dripping from her lips, her face staring in horror at the body lying on the ground beside her.

But how can this be? She had lived in a town filled with humans. Katerina? No. He would have known if Katerina had made someone have her blood.

_Blood? Damon Salvatore! She must have had the blood that Damon had stolen from his house. So Damon has been successful in turning his beloved Caroline into a vampire. Pity, Damon is not here to help his beloved Caroline now when she will need a comforting shoulder the most. _

Klaus stood behind a tree waiting, his majestic hair tied in a knot behind his head. His eyes had the gleam of a lion waiting to catch its prey. He stared at Caroline's unstable posture. She was holding onto a tree, her face contorted with agony.

She was walking away from the body towards the tree behind which Klaus was hiding. Klaus waited, _a few steps more, beloved Carolina!_

And then in a quick snap of movement, Caroline lay unconscious on the ground. Klaus picked her up and carried her, he had to be fast before anyone of the villagers woke up.

Klaus did not stop running until he reached his den, his home. He took a moment to smell the delicious aroma of blood. He turned around and saw his housekeeper standing behind him her body trembling.

'I was just leaving Mr. Mikaelson.' She said, her eyes strictly looking at the grass. Klaus waited till she was out of sight and then carried Caroline down to the basement of his den.

He placed Caroline on the table beside the daggered body of his little sister, Rebekah, locked in the basement for too long now and went to have a drink. He was thirsty and tired and had a dire need for blood before he could begin executing the well formed plan in his mind, the plan to get the Salvatores, in which the bait would be the lovely blonde lying next to his sister.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Caroline stirred slightly, her conciousness slowly seeping back in towards her. Her head hurt horribly as she lay on the hard wooden surface with nothing to lift her head above her body to assure proper blood circulation. A minute later that seemed like the least of her worries.

On the wall on her left was a huge framed picture of three men and a woman. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the familialr, monstrous face of the vampire who had snapped her neck_. Oh good lord, what was she doing in that monsters home?  
_  
She scanned the room around her, looking for an exit when her eyes spotted the daggered body of a woman of about her age. It was the same woman from the picture that was hanging on the wall. _The monster must have killed her as well. Poor girl_, thought Caroline. But why was she daggered? He could have just simply drained her body of all the blood, that would have done the trick, she thought in disgust at the unimaginable ways of the vampires. It took her a few minutes to remember that she was also one of them, disgusting monsters now.

She stared at the daggered body as her mind came up with a new scenario of events. The girl with the daggered body was in the picture with that monster, what if she was a monster as well? That made more sense. No wonder he couldn't just drain her body of the blood. But the dagger? It dint make any. sense to Caroline. Bonnie had told Caroline, a long time ago, that the only way to kill a vampire would be to drive a wooden stake through their heart. But this wasnt a wooden stake, it was a dagger with a silver blade.

Caroline calculated her options, she was a vampire now. She should be able to defend herself against any developments. With that thought in mind, Caroline slowly undaggered the blonde in front of her. She walked towards the portion of the room where there was most light and examined the silver dagger, there were no special marks on it, nothing to signify it to be anything more dark than what she had heard of, from her sister Bonnie. Disappointed, Caroline turned back to put the dagger right back where she'd found it. The only problem was that the floor where Caroline had left the blonde was now empty. The blonde was gone.

Klaus had just finished hunting. He felt so much more stronger now, than what he had last night. Now he could deal with the problem in hand without any further obstructions to stop him. He opened the door to his mansion, but stopped at the doorstep, alert. He could smell blood, someone was feeding. Had the blonde woken up already? Klaus cursed his thirst and quietly tried to trace the origin of the sound. It was coming from the kitchen. He slowly edged towards the kitchen door that was now ajar. The sound had stopped. The house was filled with an unearthly silence. He tried to gauge from outside, as to what was going on inside. But there was not much left to his imagination when he heard a sharp, high pitched, familiar voice shout out from inside. 'Welcome home brother.' The voice belonged to his sister, Rebekah Mikaelson. The realisation of what must have happened in his absence hit him hard.

'Dear dear Rebekah.' Klaus walked into the kitchen with a smirk on his face. The smirk vanished off his face a moment later. The housekeeper he had hired an year ago to safeguard his mansion lay dead on the ground, her body drained off all the blood. Rebekah stood beside her dead body, her strong hands holding a wooden stake in one hand and Caroline's limp body in the other.

'What have you done, Rebekah!' Klaus was furious. 'Oh. Did I by mistake ignite brother dearest's fury?' She gave him the same scornful expression that he hated, the same expression that had ignited his fury the last time around when she had found herself daggered. Klaus sighed in anger. 'Put the girl down.' Klaus whispered in a threatening silky voice.

'Put the girl down and hand over the stake sister. And you shall be unharmed.' Klaus stared at his sisters manipulative face, she was calculating her options. Rebekah knew that her brother was not to be trusted. How could she be sure that he would not just dagger her again once she put the blonde on the floor? Rebekah stared at the blonde that she was holding. Her brother obviously wanted the blonde safe. It was apparent in his eyes.

Rebekah went with the feeling in her gut. 'Alright brother. I let her go. In return I shall not be harmed and the dagger as a keeps shall be in my custody.' Rebekah proposed her conditions, her eyes unblinking. She knew her brother well enough to know that one sign of weakness on her part could lead to her brother manupilating her like a little child.

Klaus stared at his little sister carefully. He knew if he handed over the dagger, she could use it right back at him and that was not an option that Klaus could just rule out. When it came to his own life, nothing else mattered enough to catch his attention.

It was as though Rebekah could read his mind, because a moment later she sighed in frustration. 'Im Rebekah. Im not YOU brother. I dont dagger my sibblings when they arent looking.' Rebekah's eyes were filled with tears of rage.

Klaus considered what she had said for a minute. He knew Rebekah was weak, physically and mentally. She would never raise a finger against her own family. And a plus to handing over the dagger would be that nobody would know that she had it. Seeing no harm to himself or his plan, Klaus nodded his head.

'You have yourself a deal little sister.' Rebekah nodded at the acceptance and slowly lay the blonde and the stake on the floor. Klaus waited for Rebekah to walk away from Carolines limp body before he picked her up in his arms. It was time to put his plan in action.

It had been four hours. And there was still no sign of Caroline's body. Damon knew that this search would end fruitless. It was obvious that Klaus had taken the dead body of his dear sister in law when nobody had been looking. There was no other explanation. Why else could they not find her body even though they had searched nearly the entire forest? But Damon knew better than to voice out his opinion to the two girls walking beside him.

Damon looked at the two sisters from the corner of his eyes, they looked heartbroken. They had loved their sister dearly. And when Damon had recounted to them as to how the original had killed Caroline, Bonnie had gone red with anger.

Bonnie was angry, but not at Klaus or Damon, she was deeply angered at her own self. How could she have let the man who had murdered her sister leave without suffering for the pain that he had caused? She had been looking out for Damon and Stefan when she should've been looking out for her own blood, her own little sister.

Her gram had tried to explain to her that there was nothing that she could've possibly done to stop the monster from killing Caroline, but Bonnie knew she could have saved Caroline. If only she had waited with Caroline and gone upstairs to their rooms together. It was her fault that her beloved sister was now dead and the guilt of it drove her insane inside.

Bonnie wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her brown night dress. 'We'll find her Elena Dont you worry.' Bonnie put up a brave and determined face for her sister, had always been bad at handling things. It was now solely upto Bonnie to help her sister through this terrible ordeal.

Bonnie waited for Elena to respond, but the wait was in vain. Bonnie sighed, Elena was going back to her cocooned self like back when their parents had died. Bonnie turned back around to pour some comfort out to her sister, help her regain herself. But Bonnie was facing a slight problem. Damon and Elena were nowhere to be seen.

Bonnie started running in the backward direction, from where they had come. How could she have been so absorbed in her thoughts? How could she have left Elena alone? What if they came face to face with a monster? What if the monster tried to.. Bonnie frowned trying to block her thoughts. Her thoughts were not making this whole thing any easier.  
-

In another part of the forest, a loud cry of pain was heard. The sound was originating from a tired, muddy and teary eyed Stefan. Stefan had been looking for Caroline's body in the north-west direction of the forest. This was the direction that the original had taken. Stefan, like Damon, had assumed that the original had taken away Carolines body. For what reason, he did not understand, but then again the original and his intentions were not a childs play to figure out.

He had opted to go alone on this path knowing fully well the danger that lay ahead, there was a large chance that he might come face to face with the original himself, but then again that was exactly what he was planning on doing. Stefan was desperate to find the original, because he knew inside that the original was the key to finding Caroline and as much as Bonnie wanted him to forget, his beloved Katerina.

Stefan had searched for four long hours in desperation. He knew that his beloved Katerina's fate now lay on his shoulders. He loved her dearly. Losing her was not option. His love for her kept him on his feet, still walking, still looking. Stefan felt numb. His legs had almost given up when like a mirage he saw a small stream on his left.

He splashed his face and arms with water and cleaned his bare feet. The coolness of the water refreshed his mind and his body.

When Stefan stepped away from the lake, he was filled with a new vigour. He was fresh and ready to search for a few more hours at the least. He walked back towards the path of the forest when he saw something that made him catch his breath. A human heart lay on the ground, covered with dried blood.

Stefan felt his own heart racing as he tried to trace the blood spots on the ground to its origin. A minute later he wished he hadn't. There on the ground beneath an orchid tree lay his beloved Katerina. Her eyes were wide open, unblinking, her hands and legs were tied together with ropes that consisted of vervain and where her heart should've been was now a gaping bloody hole. Stefan let out a scream of horror, a scream of pain, a scream of utter desperation. His knees gave up on him. Stefan clutched at his hair, his eyes flowing with the pain he felt inside. There was a madness growing in Stefan's eyes. He felt like his world had suddenly been turned upside down.

He sat down beside his beloved, opened the ropes that binded her hands and legs and lay his head on her limp, stiff lap. He felt all the pain coming back to the surface. 'No..' Stefan whimpered to himself. Tears were now flowing freely through his closed eyes.

Stefan let his mind wander to those beautiful days that he and Katerina had spent in the shades of this very same forest. He thought not about their differences, but more about their intimacies. He remembered her touch on his hair when she had tried to pull out a leaf that was stuck to a few strands of his hair, he remembered her voice when she would whisper into his ears, he remembered how she tickled him with her cascading long hair and how she would run at human speed when Stefan chased her simply because she wanted him to catch her.

Stefan was so lost in his thoughts of Katerina that it took him a moment to register the muffled crunches on the leaves that he heard from nearby. Stefan opened his eyes and slowly turned his head towards the noise and felt his heart skip a beat. There in front of him was a giant wolf, double his size. Stefan stared at it horrified.

Stefan had nowhere to go. The wolf was just a few steps away from him. Stefan crouched in front of the orchid tree trying to think of a way out. But it was too late. Stefan felt a massive amount of pain on his ankle and then everything faded out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five__

Dearest brother Elijah,

You are being missed. I don't have a sending address to send this letter brother, but I will one day, I'm sure of that. I know you are not of the likes of our elder brother Niklaus. You love our family and so do I. And hence I'm praying and hoping that I will get to see you again soon.

Things have changed a lot around here brother. Without any of us, siblings, Niklaus has become if possible even more untamed. He is now cruel and insensitive more than ever before. And I'm alarmed by this change in him. 

_Also, there is this certain girl he has been keeping off late at our home. His secrecy on her part is quiet disconcerting. I do not understand the purpose that this girl serves and yet our brother seems determined to keep her safe._

His behavior raises a question in my mind. I will try to frame this question keeping in mind the delicacy of the situation. Hear me now brother, is it possible that our brother fancies this girl?

And if the answer to the above is yes, then my heart fears the fate of this girl. Because as far as I know my brother, he has never been capable of love, which I'm sure you will agree with as well.

And if the answer to the above is a no, then why is he keeping the girl in our house? And what is her relation to him?

_Although it might be a terrible fate for the girl, I write this letter to you because I believe that this girl is having an influence on our brother. And the influence is of such an innert level as cannot be described in writing. I know you cannot believe what you read brother, and hence I shall recount to you some of the events of the past few days that I have witnessed._

When I first met the girl, it was when she undaggered me, and in spite of committing such a huge felony, she was not punished by our brother. Even more to my astonishment, our brother handed over to me the silver dagger to save the girl from getting killed at my hands. Initially I thought it to be a trick of some kind on our brother's part. I would stay up all night worrying, waiting to hear any sound that may mean another eternity daggered. But now it seems I was wrong, our brother kept his word. He left me to my own devices. And since he has handed over the silver dagger, he hasn't once asked me about it. It is as though his favorite play toy, the dagger never existed. And this is just where it started.

Initially our brother only went down to the basement to give the girl blood at regular intervals. But nowadays our brother spends nearly all his time in the basement with the girl. And I know you must be very surprised reading these accounts, but what may surprise you more is what happened two days ago, on the first day of this year.

_Pardon me brother if you initially get bored, but please read it well until the end before putting the letter down._

On New Year's Eve morning I woke up rather tired, I'd stayed up till late worrying about the dagger as I have already mentioned. I had planned on sleeping in until late but my plans were disrupted rather rudely by a continuous ringing in my head. At first I thought it was just in my dream, but then someone started banging at something hard and I couldn't just stay put any longer. I got off my bed resenting the soul that had interrupted my nice and deep sleep. It dint take me long to figure out the source of the sound, some insensitive and lifeless soul was at the door. It was the postman delivering some letters, considering it was New Years Eve I wasn't surprised. It was an invitation from one of my close friends, Rose. She was having her New Year's Ball in her mansion and the letter withheld an invitation addressed to Niklaus, Kol, you and me. 

_Now as you might have already guessed, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the letter was a huge unanswered question. How was our older brother going to handle this situation? Would he bring the girl along and prove my suspicions of there being a deeper relation between the two true or would he leave her at home at her own devices?_

If it be the latter, then that just puts this whole issue into a whole new perspective. I mean that would mean that there was no real attachment to the girl on our brother's part. At the same time a dire unreasonable behavior on our elder brother's part made me a little intuitive as I am on certain occasions, a power as granted by the almighty to us, women. I made a wild and fair guess that Klaus would go with the former option. That is the only option that made sense to me as I sat on the living room couch in our huge, empty mansion.

Thirty minutes later when Klaus came back upstairs from the basement, my questions were answered, and the answers left me all the more confused.

Yes Elijah, I know you are getting impatient to know which option Klaus chose and why it befuddled me further when I had my conclusions on both the options well drawn. But these conclusions were drawn solely on the option that he would choose. And yet his mind and his heart chose two different options. 

_Our smart, calculative older brother decided not to bring his newest obsession to the party. Surprised? Yes well so was I, more than you can imagine. Here I was sitting thinking that finally all my suspicions would be confirmed and yet, as always our older brother managed to thwart my attempt at understanding him and all the oddity that really goes on in his mind. _

_His mind as we all know went for the right option in his eyes, being so calculative our older brother!_

And yet the hurt I could see in his eyes when he chose that option indicated to me a rather clear sign that his decision was not what he had wanted. But then why did he choose that option in the first place?

Now I know you would think that this is all just in my head, but it isn't. My intuitive self is never wrong. And as you read further you will realize that my beliefs however child like, are not just an unstable part of my head, it is truer in its basics than what you can possibly imagine. 

_Now our brother being the elder one and a complete donkey, decided that he shouldn't be concerned with matters as trivial as informing his sweet blonde friend about his disinterest in engaging her that respective evening. _

_I'm sure you've guessed by now who that specific responsibility fell upon once our brother decided that it was not befitting to his pride! Tell me Oh brother, I beg upon you. How did our elder brother expect me to talk, console and sympathize with a complete stranger? I had only seen her twice in the last few days, and all I knew of her was that she had blonde hair and a pretty face. _

_But our brother was adamant. If I may use his exact words, he said, "Your friend and your party Rebekah, you tell her she was not invited." And with that wearing an air of complete nosiness, like always, our brother got his way. _

_I went to the basement after taking a long bath during which time I was carefully phrasing words and sentences together as to what I would say to the blonde in the basement. I could not be rude, but at the same time I was not to seem too nice in case she tried to take advantage of me._

_I know you are thinking 'how could she possibly take advantage of me, an original!' _

_But fact remains Elijah, that that girl is a friend of Klaus', and no matter how disinterested our brother may seem to be in the silver dagger, I'm pretty sure he will come after it and who better than his blonde friend to get the dagger back from me considering she was the one who I had used to blackmail the dagger out of him in the first place! _

_When I reached the basement the well rehearsed lines in my mind decided that they did not feel like lingering and ran away with any other thought that may have been in my mind as I was walking down the stairs. _

_When I saw her, the blonde, I went absolutely blank. And I am not trying to dramatize this whole thing here brother, I swear. The blonde I had come to speak with in the basement was lying on the ground, her face turned away from the doorway. The clothes that adorned her body were filthy and the white of the dress was hardly visible any more. Her hands were tied together with vervain rope and so were her legs. Her bare legs were muddy up to her knees, even her hands and her face showed traces of mud all over. I walked to the other side of the room to get a better look at her face. Her eyelids were a slight shade of pink and her nose was running, her lips twitched slightly now and again that made me wonder what sort of painful horror she was dreaming of! _

_I had an option here, I could wake her up and tell her what I had come all the way to the basement to say or just leave her there and pray that she doesn't wake up any time before the New Year begins. I have to admit the latter option was sufficiently tempting, I did take a few steps towards the now open and welcoming doorway that would take me back to my room. But then I remembered that back upstairs I would have to face the wrath of an untamed sibling if I just left without saying a word to the blonde._

_So then I decided to do what I would not do for anyone apart from you oh brother, I decided to talk to her about the entire situation plainly and truthfully. After all it was you who taught me that truth must never be hidden because a truth hidden is a lie in its true nature._

_But the truth be told, I had no idea where to start or what to say to her brother._

Here I had been thinking that Klaus was getting attached to this blonde, considering how many hours he spent in the basement with her and as it turns out by the looks of her, he had spent those hours not getting attached to what would have been a pretty face had it not undergone an immense amount of pain but in reality torturing the daylights out of the poor little soul in front of me.

Her condition filled my mind with numerous questions. Why was Klaus torturing the poor girl so much? What had she done to him?

It must have been something big! Either that or our brother has become a sick and a cruel monster.

Now let me remind you of a little fact that I had mentioned earlier within the letter brother, this blonde girl I have been writing to you about was the one who had undaggered me intentionally or unintentionally, she is the girl who I used as a bait to get the silver dagger to my hands away from our evil brother.

After you read the above instances, I'm particularly sure that you will agree with me when I say that I had a debt to pay to this girl, I owed it to her! She deserved it! I had to help her even if that meant that I would have to face the wrath of our older brother.

_But before I do anything I had to be sure that our brother was out of the picture as I planned the blonde's escape. It was not going to be easy and if Klaus found out, then neither me nor the girl will ever see daylight again and that I am sure about!_

I tiptoed back upstairs to check as to where our brother was, but my search ended up futile. He was nowhere. I searched the entire house twice. He was gone.

I considered his absence a sign that the almighty favored the line of thoughts I was having. The greater power that you've never believed in, wanted the blonde girl in the basement to leave and never come back.

I ran back downstairs to the basement, pausing every few seconds to check for any sound of movement above me. 

_Nothing whatsoever. _

_When I reached the prison like cage downstairs, the girl was still sleeping and for some reason that I did not want to think of, her nose was still flowing, her eyes were shut tight as though in a vain attempt to block something out._

Looking at her pitiful face, I felt guilty. The fact that my brother was responsible for this condition of her upset me more than what little amount of emotions I thought I was capable of.

Instinctively, I bent down to untie the vervain rope that held her hands and legs together. It singed but I did it anyway, like an apology for her condition. As I did so she looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears of sorrow, tears of hurt, tears of a helpless young girl.

_Her face reminded me of the days when I, myself, had been a victim at the hands of the infamous vampire hunter, Morrison Hunt. You remember those days don't you brother? How much I had been in love with that man! How much I had believed that no matter what happens he would not harm me. And that final fateful night when he had driven a wooden stake through my body to kill me. Oh, I was so young and so foolish back then dearest brother. It makes me laugh now, to think that I had fallen so mindlessly in love with someone as cruel as that man. _

_And the fact that thinking about him still makes me shiver in fear is something I never thought I would admit openly even to you oh brother. He has and will always be my one sole weakness for as long as I live and that I'm quite sure of. _

_Do you remember that day brother, when Morrison had driven a wooden stake through my hands and my chest to torture me when we had been alone and how you had come back home before you were supposed to. I have never been more grateful to have you as a brother oh dear Elijah! You were my savior. And to this day, I feel grateful to you for that evening. _

_That day was marked in my life history with your name brother. I will never forget the help that you provided to me that day. And on this day as I work to help this girl living the life of a hostage to our elder brother, I believe, I am going to provide the same help as you did to me that frightful day when I needed it the most. And you may tell me that I have such a big heart and such a beautiful mind as you always do but as of now I know my deeds are one of a selfish person for I am trying to help her with the hope that when I do this, I might feel a little less frightened of the prospect of ever seeing Morrison again._

_I helped the girl up, one of her hands on my shoulders, the other clutching at the railing on the staircase as we climbed up to the first floor where my room was. I took her to bathroom, helped her stand and opened the shower. At first she was trembling as the water hit her body cleansing her of the dirt and mud that clung to her. And then she adjusted with the pace of the water. Her hands rubbed against the muddy areas of her body at which point I went outside the bathroom leaving her to cleanse and scrub herself well. I walked to my cupboard in the meantime and picked out some clothes for her to wear when she came back out. Once she was done, she picked up the clothes I had laid out for her on the bed and dressed herself._

When I saw her half an later, she looked as fresh as I'd ever seen her. Her face was glowing with happiness at the prospect of leaving this place. She came up to me, took my hand and kissed it in an attempt to show respect, I assumed.

We quietly walked into the gardens; there was still no sign of Klaus anywhere. Thanking the gods, the blonde and I ran in the direction that was of her village. We kept running at least for a few hours, not stopping and with adamancy, refusing to look back in case Klaus was following in a close trail behind. 

_It was only when we reached the edge of the forest that the girl claimed was the only partition left between her and her home did we stop._

We both took a moment to catch our breath, these were, I assumed, our final moments together. She could finally go home where she claimed that her sister, who was a witch, could protect her from our brother's wrath. 

_As I stared at her youthful and vibrant face, observing how much she had changed since I had seen her when she had been lying on the floor of the basement cellar, I realized how much a little help can change someone's life. And I felt proud of myself brother, for the very first time, I felt less like a monster and more like the human me. _

_I bowed to the blonde and turned back to leave. But before I could I heard her voice from behind me. Silly as it may seem, it was only when I heard the two words that she said did I realize how little I knew of her._

_You must be wondering what the two words were, aren't you brother? Well, it was her name. _

_Caroline Forbes. _

_I introduced myself in return and with one last smile I left, knowing full well that I could not delay my departure anymore. _

_On my way back to the mansion, I thought of all the reasons I could give my brother as to where I was and what I was doing. But none of them seemed fair enough. Finally I decided that I would just say that I was thirsty so I had gone out to hunt. But I need not have bothered thinking up excuses at all because when I got back home ready with a rehearsed speech, I found the mansion near empty with the exception of a human. _

_Klaus was still not home._

_The human, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch of our living room, looking with a fascinated interest at a vase that was kept on the table. I stared at him, my hunger at its peak. But before I could attack, he saw me. And he stood up; the vase that was on his lap slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. I looked at him maliciously, now I even had a reason to grab him and have a nice bite. _

_But then he introduced himself, his name was Matt Donovan. He had been sent to the mansion for the job of the housekeeper. That forced me to gulp down the saliva that had been forming in my mouth. _

_I don't think I mentioned this to you brother, I killed the house's last housekeeper. This was the day when Caroline had undaggered me. I was hungry and the housekeeper had been the only human in close vicinity. _

_I stared at the boy, yes brother, boy. He looked about seventeen, a rather young age to be doing household chores. But I was not interested in his history or his painful life, so I just told him to clean up the mess he had created with the vase and I went upstairs to get ready for the ball._

_After a nice hot shower, I sat down to decide what I would wear. __After a long hour of contemplation, I chose the backless sparkling blue dress, the one that Kol had gifted me a few years ago._

Now what I write ahead might not be to your tastes brother, and you may even think of me as a senile little teenager after reading through. But I have no one else to talk to about these feelings, these words that my lips tremble to speak.

It was a few minutes after I had finished dressing up. I had gone downstairs to have some water, when I had caught the new housekeeper, Matt staring at me as he was cleaning. I was at first irritated. I had turned to him and stated as to how uncomfortable he was making me. But to my surprise he did not, not for a single moment, turn his glance away. He continued to stare at me. And he musingly replied in a rather musky voice stating as to how deeply he was enchanted by me and also something about not having seen a prettier maid than me. Yes brother, I am an easy prey. And yes, his words made me blush a deep red.

I smiled at him and I left the room, refusing to look up at him, I was never good with hormones, as you already know. So I just left before I got a serious hormonal kick.

The uncomfortable part ends here. You may stop blinking five times a second and continue reading.

It was about half an hour before the party was to begin, and there was still no sign of Klaus anywhere. So I went up to his room to check if he had come through when I had been dressing, unnoticed by me. 

_But he was not there either._

_But the visit to his room was not a complete waste of time. Although our brother was nowhere in sight, lying on the bedside table beside a family picture, whose existence within the four walls of his room surprised me, was a neatly folded letter on top of which was my name written in our older brother's scrawny illegible handwriting. I picked it up and I read it. The contents of the letter, word to word, were as follows._

"Sister. Leaving the town for a bit. Need some time to think. Take care of Caroline for me and tell her that I apologized for the past week. I was not in my right mind. She will understand what I'm saying. And if you can manage it, drop her back to her village. She resides in the village of mystic falls. Farewell to thee. Niklaus."

Can you believe it? Our brother felt guilty for torturing Caroline! And he actually wanted me to apologize to her on his behalf. See what I mean? I was right. He does fancy her. And all this will hopefully bring about a face of Klaus that you and me are yet to see, a less cruel and a more loving face.

This letter is now coming to an end brother. You are being missed. And as much as I wish I could give you warm New Year wishes in person, for now I must defer to the means that this letter provides.

_Wish you a very happy New Year dearest brother. May god bless you with happiness and luck throughout the year. And may we be reunited soon.._

___Your loving sister,__  
__Rebekah_


End file.
